Annual Gratitudes … and Intentions

Gratitudes and Intentions

In 2015, I was given the rare and beautiful gift to be beside another as he and his family navigated the final months of his life. It was a gift because I trust that gifts are revealed not in shiny packages or spoken promises or in written guarantees, but rather in the corners of life where dark days exist and broken fragments scatter. There is no justification in losing a person who is good and young and loved by so many. I could not want for anything more than my friend to be here now and in many ways he is because I carry him with me every day. The gift cultivated from time with my friend is my focus to remain grateful and create intentions for betterment.

As has become my annual tradition, I offer my list of gratitudes which are laced with the intention to recognize good, to cultivate good, and to do good. Thank you to all those who have influenced my year through your love, support, and kindness.

51 Gratitudes

1. My health
2. My brother’s health
3. Friends near and far
4. My sweet John who helps keep my heart open
5. My yoga teachers
6. Sitka Running Sisters: Cindy, Lisa, Bridget, & Val
7. California Family: Lillie, Chris, and Kara
8. Steadfast and true Michiko
9. They Bryan YMCA and the strong, sweet YogaDawgs
10. Financial guru and life coach Greg Porter
11. Hot water with lemon and ginger
12. Grey hairs
13. Legs that still run… well, still jog
14. My sense of wonder
15. My writer friends: Gaye, Heather, and Sarah ~#wearewriters
16. Cycling adventures with TeamVipzmo
17. Home and heart of Sitka
18. Sunrises
19. Greensboro community
20. Full moons
21. Julia and Grant and family dinners
22. Phyllis and our monthly check ins
23. Coffee and Pie and Pie and Coffee
24. Farmers Markets
25. Randy and Mimi and the gift of Msr. Look, the bicycle
26. Sound of laughter
27. My journal – stolen and then returned by a stranger
28. Reliable new Sistah Subbie
29. The continued love and support of Tina, Dick, and Kristen
30. Mother Sequence Challenge and the steadfast participants
31. Front porch mornings
32. Letter rambles from Angie and Lisa
33. Cribbage with Vip, especially when I win
34. Experiencing the paradise of Hawaii
35. Cooking for friends
36. My mom and the love I still carry
37. Tara’s texts and her willingness to seek adventure
38. My teachers and for the lessons I still need to learn
39. Mosquito Cove, my happy place
40. The kiddos who still think I’m cool Aunt Annie: Adeline, Annie, Emma, and Lillie
41. Ann and Howie Holland, my segregate parents
42. An open heart
43. Long talks and lots of coffee with Kara
44. The water’s edge and the mountain tops
45. A good hike
46. The morning quail
47. Tate Street Coffee community for their love and the refueling of my caffeine needs
48. Touchstones of my past and supporters of my future, Isaac, Cindy, Kristen, Lynnie, Bridget, Kara, Tara, Angie, Lisa, Davey, and many others
49. Passion to write and the readers who made it to the end
50. Being brave
51. Ryan, whose spirit carries my gratitudes and intentions